Adoption in Ukraine Still Open Amid Crisis

Despite adoption closures in Crimea, other Ukrainian adoptions are continuing-- for now.

Terra Cooper
May 20, 2014

The Bureau of Consular Affairs and the US Department of State has released an alert stating that the government of Ukraine is considering a temporary suspension on adoption referrals to the Donetsk and Lugank regions of Ukraine “for the duration of the ongoing anti-terrorist operation.” They state that if this suspension is put into place, adoptions already in process will still not be impacted.

However, for now, adoptions from the Ukraine are still continuing as usual. Further, the Department states that they are ”not currently aware of any delays in the intercountry adoption process in Ukraine.” The Department is encouraging adoptive parents to continue communicating with the US Embassy.

Some parents who were in Ukraine when the violence started were unsure if they would be able to bring their children home. Fortunately, they have been able to return, though on a somewhat delayed timeline.

One family is hoping that adoptions in Ukraine will stay open despite the country’s current political situation. Mary and James are hoping to adopt two girls from Ukraine (or a sibling group of up to three children). James served a mission for his church in Russia in the mid-1990s and spent time doing service in the orphanages there. He always wanted to return to Russia to adopt someday. Unfortunately, when the time was right to begin the adoption process, Russia was no longer an option. James and Mary began to pursue adoption programs in Eastern Europe and started researching Ukraine. They decided to use a consulting company to help them through the adoption process and got started fairly quickly.

The adoption process in Ukraine begins like most international adoption programs: with a home study, immigration processing, and submission of a series of documents to Ukraine. From there, the Ukrainian government reviews all of the documents and sends an invitation for the couple to travel to Kiev to view profiles of children the couple might want to meet based on their profile.

Currently, James and Mary have completed their home study and have submitted their paperwork to Ukrainian Immigration. If everything goes smoothly they plan to travel to Ukraine sometime in May or early June. The recent unrest in Ukraine has had them worried about the future of the Ukraine program. Mary has chronicled their timeline of adoption fees and paperwork on her blog. It is a great resource describing what those interested in international adoption should expect in the process.

You can find a list of International Adoption Alerts & Notices on the countries here.

Have any of you adopted from Ukraine? We would love to hear your story!

Terra Cooper

Terra Cooper is a Staff Storyteller at Adoption.com. She is a mother of three-- two boys and one girl who was adopted. She is also a professional wedding photographer, a self-proclaimed foodie, and a TV/movie addict. Visit her website.

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